Yen-j | |
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Background information | |
Chinese name | 嚴爵 (traditional) |
Pinyin | Yán Jué (Mandarin) |
Pe̍h-ōe-jī | Giâm Chiok (Hokkien) |
Origin | Taiwanese |
Born |
Kaohsiung, Taiwan |
April 23, 1988
Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
Genre(s) | Mandopop |
Instrument(s) | Voice, Piano, Trombone, Guitar, Bass, Drums |
Label(s) | B'in Music Co. (相信音樂) |
Years active | 2009-present |
Influenced by | Charlie Parker , John Coltrane |
Website | yenj234 |
Yen-j, also known as Yan Jue, is a Taiwanese jazz-pop singer-songwriter. He has achieved rising success as a newcomer on the Mandopop scene, due to testimonials from popular artists such as Wang Leehom, Mayday’s Ashin, Dee Hsu, Blackie Chen and DJ Xiao Shu. His fresh combinations of jazz and pop have made him a noticeable star on the rise. His debut album, Thanks to Your Greatness (谢谢你的美好) contains 11 songs, all written, and produced by him, or with his input. He also plays many instruments, such as the piano, trombone, guitar and bass guitar.
Yen-J was born on 23 April 1988 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He moved to the United States at the age of 10 to continue his studies. He started playing the piano and the trombone at an early age, and at the age of 11 started composing his own music and also learned to play other instruments to further his interests in jazz music. During his high school years, he took to performing with his high school teachers at jazz bars in San Francisco. After high school, he moved to Los Angeles to further his education at the University of Southern California, studying music. However, he withdrew from the university after his first semester and decided to move back to Taiwan to begin his career as a singer.
Yen-J who comes from a family of doctors, was given a deadline of two years to start off his music career by his father, who wanted him to study medicine. Seeing how successful he has been since his decision to become a singer, his father has since changed the deadline to ten years, instead of two.